Book Club: “Creation Lake” by Rachel Kushner

Wednesday January 8th,
Doors & drinks 6.30pm; Discussion starts 7pm

Sadie Smith – a 34-year-old American undercover agent of ruthless tactics, bold opinions and clean beauty – is sent by her mysterious but powerful employers to a remote corner of France. Her mission: to infiltrate a commune of radical eco-activists led by the charismatic svengali Bruno Lacombe.

Sadie casts her cynical eye over this region of ancient farms and sleepy villages, and at first finds Bruno’s idealism laughable – he lives in a Neanderthal cave and believes the path to enlightenment is a return to primitivism. But while Sadie is certain that her significant talents are leading her towards a successful resolution, Bruno Lacombe is seducing her with his ingenious counter-histories, his artful laments and his own tragic story.

Creation Lake was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize. The judges said: "It’s quite something to wrap a thought-provoking novel of ideas into a page-turning spy thriller, and to achieve a narrative voice that is so audaciously confident – and then subtly undercut it. This is a political novel on many levels: it includes radical leftists, utopianists, a reclusive guru obsessed with neanderthals, the shadowy forces of ruthless capitalism. Through it all Kushner examines how the individual interacts with, and disrupts, ideologies. That could sound dry – but her prose is so juicy, her narrator so jaunty, her worldbuilding so lush, that it’s anything but."

Book Club now meets on the second Wednesday of every month. 

Kairos, 84 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4TG

Doors open at 6.30pm. Discussion starts at 7pm. Food provided. Pay bar.

Free for members, £5 non-members. (Members please register in advance so we can plan numbers.)